RYDIR: Designed for Your Travel Needs
Written by Trinity Duong
Kim Hart is the founder of The RYDIR Band. As a passionate yet anxious traveler, Hart aims to create a balanced travel journey regardless of how long it may be. Through her production and creation of RYDIR, Hart aimed to remove the difficulties of packing and the journey’s baggage. By creating her soft, stretchy and compressable tote bag bands, her products easily slide over the handles of rolling suitcases, keeping the bag safe and secure. RYDIR’s craftsmanship has a positive impact on communities that have seen a decline in textile manufacturing.
By interviewing Kim Hart we have received an intricate discussion and overview of the insights into The RYDIR Band.
What do you believe RYDIR’s values are?
Practicality, quality, integrity, philanthropy, and appreciation for craftsmanship
How does the beginning or RYDIR compare to where it is now?
We are absolutely in the same lane just further along the highway. The values that inspired the creation of RYDIR are stronger than ever and are helping guide and chart our future course I couldn’t be more excited for the future and the ability to help take some of the stress out of the travel day. Although we are still at the beginning of our story I can see the next chapters, and they are exciting and scary. But that’s what I love about this experience.
How do you remain motivated as a founder and how do you keep others around you motivated?
The desire to help others and share what I consider to be THE travel necessity is one of my driving forces. Another would be the potential impact we can have on the manufacturing market in the United States as well as my own personal next chapter. Becoming a first-time entrepreneur at 52 years old and sharing that story with other women. These are all driving forces for me to get up each day and face the mountain of things that need to be done. I’ll be honest there are days when it’s literally debilitating, I can’t get one thing done. But I’m a stoic and a realist, one step at a time that’s how we get the mountain moved. I also don’t embarrass easy so I am very comfortable with not knowing something and asking for help. These aspects of me and what’s happening around me help keep me focused, for the most part, and I feel it's a bit contagious. I’m very excited about the RYDIR Band and once I get going it’s really hard to stop that momentum. Oh and when all else fails, chocolate is a great motivator!! I’ve gotten more done in a day when there is a promise of candy at the end of a project or task.
How did the idea of RYDIR come to be?
The RYDIR Band literally came to me at my kitchen table the night before a trip. My tote bag was balanced on top of my rolling carry-on suitcase. I glanced over and the thought of using a fabric tube to keep it attached to the handles came to me. I explained the idea to my family, who all had blank stares, then ran upstairs and grabbed an old pair of leggings. I cut the legs off the leggings, slide the waistband portion over my bag, and down the handles of the suitcase, and voila there was my first RYDIR Band prototype.
How did you transfer it from an idea to a real creative space?
We immediately thought what a great idea, I’m sure someone has already come up with it. At that moment we starting searching the internet for any product that even resembled my idea. After we came up empty-handed we started investigating patents in the US and worldwide. Once we realized there was no other product like this we began work on a US Provisional Patent. Once that was in the works, I had to find a manufacturer. I wanted to have the product manufactured in the United States. That became a very important aspect of how we wanted to structure our supply chain. It is no easy feat to find a manufacturer in the US who is willing to work on a prototype for a start-up. It took months and months to find a group that would help with the prototype. Manufacturing Solutions Center, a small manufacturing incubator group in North Carolina whose sole purpose is to bring manufacturing back to the United States was our perfect match. We spent the better part of a year coming up with the right sizing and yarn combinations to create The RYDIR Band. As we planned our spring 2020 launch the world went sideways and we had to go on idle for a bit. As the world starts to cautiously open up again and we are lucky enough to have a vaccine here in the United States we are ramping up once again for our RYDIR Band launch.
RYDIR has created a phenomenal product that ensures the most seamless travels for all your post-pandemic trips. Be sure to watch this product change your life. You can find RYDIR here and make sure to check out their Instagram.
If you love female-owned businesses you can read our blog post “Women-Owned Businesses In The Creative Industry“
